Saturday, June 25, 2016

Ah a Look at the Other Side

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Yesterday, We visited the Pest side of Budapest, today we head to the Buda side. Most of the down time is spent watching the international news of BREXIT and t's impacts. Besides that we have a giant important soccer match tonight between Belgium and Hungary. Massive TV screens are being set up in the parks so everyone can watch the match! (Hungary lost 4-0) We started out visiting the "Sziklakorhaz" Hospital in the Rock. This is a newly opened secret hospital used for the Hungarian and German armies during WWII. The visit took us far into the caves where we had the chance to see how the hospital was set up. Many original items were displayed. Our guide remembered the days of the war, when as a child she and her friends noticed the German Shepherd dogs and soldiers guarding the then communist cave. Up close and personal….

We went through the St. Mathias Church

From the Fisherman's Bastion we were able to look back at Pest and see how beautiful the building shone on the Danube.

Fisherman's Bastion on Gellert Hill

To get even higher on Buda side of the Danube we drove to Gellert Hill and enjoyed the vistas of both Buda and Pest.

Also on Gellert Hill is a large monument is called Liberation Monument.

By noon the heat has returned after a lovely and pleasant morning. We are anxious to return to the Ritz Carlton and enjoy a quiet lunch and walk through the Sunday fun park which we have noticed is full of artisans offering their wares...ie..SHOPPING! Later this park was filled with soccer/football supporters viewing the Hungary/Belgium game.

Tonight we celebrated our farewell to our travel mates by a smashing dinner at the Academia Club located in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Lovely dinner, delightful dinner partners, local musicians who played throughout the dinner. Two pictures showing some of the very elaborate interior of our 'dining' room.

This farewell meal was perhaps the best of the trip. Tours and cruising are very much about food -- the menu of the Farewell Dinner won the award for "Classiest Menu." Grapefruit and salad leaves with goose liver terrine. Mushroom cream soup. Filet of venison and farm style chicken breast with taters. Ganache cake with ice cream. Wines were exceptional, truly fine, especially the dessert wine, a sour cherry distilled liquor.